1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a slider for slide fasteners and has particular reference to such a slider which can lock itself automatically upon the slide fastener.
2. Prior Art
There are known a great many automatically lockable sliders adapted to open and close slide fasteners or zippers applied to various garment articles. The majority of conventional automatically locking sliders are fabricated from a metallic material and provided with locking means comprising a locking member and a resilient member typically in the form of a leaf spring, the two members being separately accommodated within a cap-like housing over a slider body. Assembling such sliders is rather tedious, as the resilient member is required to be carefully held in abutting engagement with the inner wall of the housing and accurately positioned relative to the locking member to ensure proper operation of the latter.
Advanced sliders of the automatic type are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publications Nos. 46-4268 and 46-4269 in which the slider is provided with a leaf spring integrally joined at one end to a locking member and folded back toward the opposite end to bear against the upper inner wall of a casing. Although this leaf spring is integrally formed with the locking member, it is elongated such that its resilient strength is reduced, leading to malfunctioned locking operation of the slider.
A common problem with automatic locking sliders incorporating metallic leaf springs is that they are costly due to the use of relatively expensive resilient material.